GOP lawmaker presses Biden not to return US embassy in Israel to Tel Aviv
A top GOP lawmaker is pressing US President Joe Biden to let the US embassy remain in Jerusalem al-Quds after it was moved there from Israeli capital Tel Aviv.
Tennessee Republican Sen. Bill Hagerty on Saturday wrote a letter to Biden, urging him to publicly confirm that he is not planning to return the embassy to Tel Aviv.
The letter was sent a day after White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki Refused to say whether the Biden administration agrees with the move, vowing to follow up on the matter.
"This is not a difficult question and should not require any deliberation," Hagerty claimed. "In order to correct the discrepancy that unfortunately now exists between our two branches of government and send an unequivocal message to our allies in Israel, I urge you to confirm—immediately and publicly—that your Administration will continue to implement U.S. law and maintain the American Embassy’s location in Jerusalem."
Other Biden administration officials have previously been pressed to take a stance on the issue.
Trump in May 2018 moved the US embassy from Tel Aviv to the Holy city, which Palestinians consider as the capital of their future state.
The former president sparked controversy by officially recognizing Jerusalem al-Quds as the Israeli ‘capital’ in December 2017.
Israel lays claim to the entire Jerusalem al-Quds, but the international community views the city’s eastern sector as occupied territory and Palestinians consider it the capital of their future state.
United Nations Security Council Resolution 478, adopted on August 20, 1980, prohibits countries from establishing diplomatic missions in Jerusalem al-Quds.
Palestinians, who seek an independent state in the occupied West Bank and Gaza, with East Jerusalem al-Quds as its capital, have condemned the US pro-Israel agenda.
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